France's Loire Valley and the 4 C Chateaus

After a memorable but somewhat disappointing couple of days in Paris, I was more than eager to bid this busy city farewell and head south to the Loire Valley (Tours, France). The Loire Valley is home to many of France's most famous chateaus, and we planned on spending 2 full days driving around area. Getting a rental car was our first objective. As I've mentioned before, I can't emphasize enough the importance of a backup rental car. (Most times you don't have to give credit card information to reserve them, so you lose nothing by reserving more than one.) We used our back up car in Italy, so we knew the importance of having a Plan B. In Paris, our primary car rental (based on price, of course) was Avis. Our backup car was through Hertz. When we got to the Avis counter at the Paris airport, they had the automatic car we reserved, but not the GPS we reserved with it. I had printed maps with turn by turn directions for the entire trip, but the last thing I wanted to do was rely on my own navigational skills. (Of which I have none...just so we're clear on that.) After a bit of unsuccessful arguing with them, we went over to the hertz counter. They were able to give us an automatic car and a GPS. The backup car saves the day yet again! This is my rental car takeaway; hertz rocks. They're more expensive for sure, but they've also been the single most reliable international brand in my own personal experience.

Getting out of Paris was a little tumultuous (mostly due to traffic and navigating the roads and unfamiliar signs), but it wasn't long before we bid the rainy, dreary city au revoir, and headed for the countryside. I don't know if it was coincidence or what, but the minute we drove beyond the city limits, the sun came out and the sky turned blue. This would forever cement our disdain for Paris, but I wasn't ready to give up on all of France just yet. Our first destination (or our first "C" chateaux) was the Chateau de Chambord. Have you ever had the raspberry liquor Chambord? It's made here (even though I think it's kinda gross)!  Just over 2 hours from Paris, we drove here easily and arrived right as the chateau was opening for the day. I know we just saw Versailles the day before, and that it is supposed to be one of the most magnificent palaces in the world. And while I agree that it was pretty great, and we enjoyed spending the day there, the Chateau de Chambord was definitely more up my alley. The chateau itself was stunning (my favorite out of the 4 C's that we would see over the next 2 days), and the rural setting was far more soothing that the busy Parisian streets.

Chateau de Chambord 

We spent a couple of hours here touring this massive chateau and spending some time walking around the grounds. We got sandwiches (avec jambon...with ham) at a little food stand by the chateau before continuing on to the next one. 

What I loved about the Loire Valley even more than the clean air, open spaces, and sunny days (can you tell I'm not a city girl??) were all the flowers! In Paris, we walked through many parks and gardens (including the Luxembourg gardens) but just didn't see the types of roses and other flowers that we saw on the grounds of these magnificent chateaus. 

The second "C" chateau we saw that day was the Chateau de Cheverny. Only about a 25 min drive from Chambord, what this chateau lacked in majesty, it made up for in flora. As we approached the entrance to the chateau, we were escorted by the most beautiful wall of red roses. 

Wall of roses at the Chateau de Cheverny

I don't honestly remember too much about the inside of this chateau. I'm sure there was a stately dining hall and elegant sleeping chambers, but nothing struck me at exceptionally noteworthy. What I do remember about our visit to Cheverny aside from the lovely, fragrant roses, was the fact that the property had a history of raising hunting hounds. We could even walk the grounds over to the hound quarters where we could see them sleeping away their lazy May afternoon. One whiff of the interior of that building however, and we ran as far away as quickly as we could. The pungent odor of stinky dog blazed through our nostrils leaving us gasping for fresh air. Warning friends: this is a lovely chateau to visit, but hold your breath if you go see the hunting dogs. They're cute and furry and adorable while sleeping, but the smell could make even the toughest of eyes water. 

Chateau de Cheverny in Loire Valley, France

By the time we left Cheverny it was mid/late-afternoon. Our hotel for the evening was something of a special sort. When doing research for hotels in the area, it occurred to me that for as much as I loved touring these beautiful manor houses, I would love even more to stay the night in one. Keeping my budget (less than $200/night) in mind, I began a hunt for a chateau that had been converted into a bed and breakfast. 

After a hefty search, I came across Chateau Du Plessis (37360 Saint-Antoine-du-Rocher, France).  Sadly, the website for this lovely bed and breakfast has been disabled, so I fear it's no longer open. It was only an hour from the Chateau de Cheverny, and while our GPS system was unable to find it, it got us within 5-10 mins of the B&B with the website directions getting us the rest of the way there. 

It is really in the middle of nowhere but still a stunning restored chateau. The only place we were able to find food was a grocery store, so we got ourselves a baguette, cheese, and lunchmeat and had a lovely picnic dinner on the grounds of our chateau hotel. 

Chateau du Plessis: Saint-Antoine du Rocher

We stayed only one night, and the next morning, the lady of the house made us a delicious breakfast with bacon and eggs. We had a long day of driving ahead of us which included stopping at the last 2 of the 4 "C" chateaus. 

Our first stop for the day was the Chateau de Chaumont. I regrettably remember the least about this chateau. It was undergoing a conservation effort, and we didn't have much appreciation for the art displayed throughout the chateau. Speaking of art, in the gardens adjacent to the chateau there was a bizarre outdoor "art" festival going on. With some time to spare, we decided to check out this festival of color. It wasn't exactly our cup of tea, but some of the things we saw were so very odd that we actually enjoyed the hour we spent here. 

One of the art exhibits. Not exactly sure what it was supposed to be...

The last place on our 4 C's Chateau tour was the Chateau de Chenonceau. This was my second favorite after Chambord. It was only 30 mins from Chaumont and the GPS helped us find it easily. Aside from our chateau hotel, the GPS was able to give us accurate turn by turn directions to every chateau we saw those two days. We even took a quick detour to the Chateau de Beauregard but only went so far as to take a quick photo of the outside and walk the grounds a bit. There is an old chapel in the forest that made for a fun little adventure.

The Chateau de Chenonceau was really a neat place to visit. Aside from the main structure, an "addition" was added that stretched out over the river. This grand gallery was used for balls and banquets and then converted to a hospital during World War I. Its unique history spans 400+ years and the docents at the chateau were very friendly and knowledgable. 

Gallery at Chateau de Chenonceau

There are so many chateaus in the Loire Valley. You could easily see more than the 4 we picked though after seeing too many, they all tend to blend together. This can happen anywhere. In Germany we got saturated with castles. In Kyoto we got saturated with temples. My best advice is to pick a couple that sound really neat to you, and spend the rest of your time on other activities. 

Our time in the Loire Valley came to a close, and we got back in car and headed toward the western coast of France. We sadly didn't travel any farther south than the Loire Valley, but our days in France were numbered, and there were too many things we still wanted to see in central France. 

We finishd up at the Chateau de Chenonceau around mid-afternoon and faced a hefty 3.5 hour drive to our hotel for the evening. Our destination for Friday, May 15 was the Normandy region, so we wanted our hotel for the night to be closer to our activities for the next day. We stayed at the Altos Hotel for the evening which was one of the cheapest hotels we stayed in the entire trip. For the night, we paid less than $100, though it was still a lovely boutique hotel. Though relatively in the middle of nowhere, it was perfectly situated for our activites the next morning.  Click here to continue my journey to the west coast of France. 

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler